PSN breached - Larger implications for cloud computing?

It seems just like yesterday when PS3 users were bemoaning the fact that their favoured online gaming delivery service was down, limp and lifeless from malicious cyber attacks. Fast-forward a few months and Sony has again been hit by a breach in its network, though this time the impact was much less pronounced than its spring counterpart. In a statement from Sony's chief information security officer Philip Reitinger, he highlighted how the company had detected attempts on services to test a massive set of sign-in IDs and passwords against [their] network database. These attempts appear to include a large amount of data obtained from one or more compromised lists from other companies, sites or other sources. Sony has since taken steps to mitigate the activity that could have seen the hackers conduct a much larger breach, as was their intentions: only around 60,000 accounts were compromised in the attacks.

But what does this really mean for gaming, and computing for that matter, in general? In an age where we're becoming increasingly reliant on cloud-based storage (the newly-released iCloud, Windows Live) , digital downloads (PSN, Xbox Live) and streamed data (OnLive, Gaikai); where hacking runs rife, is an all-digital future truly flawless?

Jason England

I am the Founder and Editor-in-chief of New Rising Media. You can follow me on Twitter @MrJasonEngland.